Paul's Epistle to the Galatians

FINALLY! This post has been on my mind for over a month now! And I am now finally getting around to finishing it off. I thought that it would be a good idea to do an update on my favourite book so far, so here it is.

It has been a crazy busy time.. so much so, that when people ask me what has been my favourite book, I panic and tell them that I love Colossians, and later realise that I meant to say Galatians. So just to clarify... Galatians has definitely been the most impactful book I have studied so far, even though Colossians was great!

When doing the out loud read for Galatians, all I was thinking the whole time was "WOW Paul, why are you having a temper tantrum, this seems really unnecessary!" Also, to tell them "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." (Galatians 6:1) did not feel like he was being true to his word. Especially since he says "O foolish Galatians" (which was a quote that our class repeated a lot that week)... Gentleness is not a word I would have used to describe his tone throughout this letter.

However, after doing the historical background and getting a better understanding of what it was like to be a citizen of Galatia during the time that Paul wrote this letter, a lot of things fell in place, and I really understood Paul's heart behind writing this letter (and his harshness towards them). So here is a brief summary of the book with some verse references and then finally, some things I have learned:

The epistle to the Galatians was written by Paul to the church in Galatia because they had been confronted by the Circumcision Party (a group of Jews who became Christian, but firmly believed that it was necessary for Jewish and Gentile (anyone who is not a Jew) believers to still conform to the food laws, be circumcised and keep the Jewish calendar in order to gain salvation. The church in Galatia had been conforming to the Law and they were being circumcised (6:13) because of the influence of the circumcision party. Paul writes to them in order to defend the gospel that he preached to them(1:1, 2:7, 4:16), in order to remind them that they are not saved by works but through faith in Jesus Christ (2:15-16). Paul's main focus is therefore to reassure them that they are not justified by the Law of Moses which they will never be able to fulfill. But rather, through faith in Christ they are justified.

Paul starts this letter by defending the gospel. He explains to the church of Galatia that he has been given the Gospel of Christ from God himself, and that it was not taught to him by man (1:11-12). He briefly goes over his conversion and how he encountered Jesus while he was on his way to persecute the church (1:15-17).

Paul then spends time talking about how the promise of righteousness through Christ was given to Abraham through faith (3:14). He explains to them that they are no longer justified by the works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus (2:15-16). He shows them that Jesus was the promised one of Abraham's offspring (3:16), and because of this they no longer need to live under the Law, who acted as a guardian while they were waiting for Jesus Christ (3:24-25). They have now moved away from being a slave to the law, and are sons and daughters of the promise, that gives eternal life (4:4-5,31).

Paul lastly focuses on freedom that is found in Christ (5:13) and that this means that they do not need to conform to the ways of the law anymore. They have been relieved from these works. (5:1) Finally he gives them ways in which they can live out their lives in accordance to the life that they have been called to. He tells them to walk in the Spirit (5:16) and to steer clear from temptations (6:1), that their lives should produce the fruits of the Spirit (5:22-23).

Things that I have learnt:

I think that it is very easy for Christianity to be viewed as a legalistic thing, where once you are Christian, you need to now follow all these rules in order to gain salvation, however, Paul wants the church of Galatia to see that this is not God's intention. The Law was given to Moses in order for the Israelites to remain pure so that God could dwell with them, since God could not be associated with any sin or imperfection. When Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity, the veil in the temple of Jerusalem separating the people from the Holy of Holies was torn in half (Matthew 27:51) (the high priest was the only person who could only enter this place, once a year), and the relationship between man and God was restored, which is what God had desired from the beginning (starting with Adam and Eve). So for them to be approaching God with legalistic ideas really broke Paul's heart and he wanted them to see that God desires relationship, and that they have now been made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness is relational, and the Law leads to judgement, he wants them to see that they get to move away from this, towards the new Covenant of grace.

A beautiful thing that is shown in this letter is how Paul explains how he was called to be a servant of God, and that it was always part of God's plan to use a man who was a devout Jew that was very against Christians, and had persecuted and killed many Christians before he encountered Jesus. Paul states that God "set me apart before I was born" (1:15) and this shows how God had a plan to turn Paul's life around and use him as a radical part of spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles, and that this was all through God's grace, and definitely not through Paul's works. This also aligns with the promise that God made with Abraham, the first of God's chosen people, that he would be the father of the nation that would bring blessings to all nations of the earth (Genesis 18:18). God did not choose Abraham because of his works, but because he believed in the Lord, and God counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). This just emphasizes how God declared people righteous through faith, for both Paul and Abraham.

This showed me that God really can use any person to spread the gospel, and that was really encouraging for me to see that Paul had such a transformation (as described in Acts 9) and that he played such a big role in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. He shows that it is through God's grace that we can come to faith, and through faith, be declared righteous, just as it happened with Abraham.

Paul really shows his heart for having the Galatians understand his intentions in this letter from 2:11-2:21. Here, Paul describes how Peter, who knew about the decision against Gentile circumcision which was decided at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, was still living in such a way that portrays to the Gentiles that they are not included, by the fact that he got up from eating with them as soon as a group of men from James arrived (it is assumed that these men were Jewish). This broke Paul's heart and he again shows that even though the Jewish Christians knew the truth about not needing to follow the law of Moses it was so innately ingrained in their actions. He also explains that the Jews knew that the law is not enough. (2:15-16) Paul finishes off this section by explaining that if the Law of Moses was enough for all to become righteous, Jesus would not have needed to come and die on the cross. However, Jesus did come, and this shows the Galatian church that following the Jewish laws that had been set out by the circumcision party was not going to add anything to their righteousness, and that it was only through faith in Christ. The church needed to see that they cannot come to a place of being completely righteous through works, but instead they have been given righteousness as a gift from God.

Paul gave a great illustration of the law, by comparing it to the role of a guardian. In those times it was common for children to have a guardian who would correct them and show them how to live and grow up, in order to help prepare these children for life, this is what the law's purpose was, to prepare the Israelites for the coming of Christ. This meant that once Christ had come there was this excitement about not having to carry the burden of the law anymore and that they no longer need to work for salvation.

All of this may sound kind of confusing, and as I was coming to the end of this book, I was stuck with this question: If I have gained righteousness through faith, and I do not need to follow the law of Moses, how am I called to live as a Christian? Can I just do whatever I want if I believe that Jesus has died for my sins?

My question was answered at the end of this epistle, where Paul writes about walking together, in unity with the Holy Spirit. This reminded me of what Paul wanted the Galatian church to see.... that God's greatest desire is relationship. (John 15) And how being in this relationship should naturally produce the fruits of Spirit (5:22-23).

Relationships have great influences on our lives, we often find ourselves using similar vocabulary, doing certain activities, thinking in certain ways that are like those that we have close relationships with. God reminded me that the more effort I put into my relationship with him, the more I will reflect him to others. This is not something that I need to constantly be thinking of as an assignment or a task that I need to do in order to be righteous, but rather through grace, God sees me as righteous and I am able to have a close relationship with him. Paul finishes off his letter by explaining the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit, and that God will guide us in how to live out our lives by putting away the desires of the world (5:19-21), and instead grow closer to God by loving and encouraging those around us.

Thank you for persevering through this update, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to contact me, I would love to hear your thoughts. Finally I want to say that I've had such an amazing time learning more about the Bible in these 3 months. I'm excited to now go into the Old Testament and continue to discover more about who God is and to grow further in relationship with him.

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Prayer requests:

- That we will be able to finish the school in Taiwan, currently we are able to stay here until mid-September, which is such a blessing.

- For energy to get through the longer books that we will be going through during the next three months.

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